Old newspapers helped me understand the people and events of the times, both big and small, and also to get an ear for the language and gossipy tone of the 1920s and ’30s so I could write the newspaper articles, letters, and telegrams in this novel.
The 1936 women’s track and field team aboard the S.S. Manhattan, en route to Berlin, July 1936. Standing (left to right): Fred Steers (manager), Martha Worst, Annette Rogers, Kathlyn Kelley, Gertrude Wilhelmsen, Louise Stokes, Elizabeth Robinson, Dee Boeckmann (coach). Kneeling: Evelyn Ferrara, Helen Stephens, Harriet Bland, Alice Arden. Sitting: Tidye Pickett, Simone Schaller, Josephine Warren, Olive Hasenfus, Betty Burch. Missing: Anne Vrana O’Brien, Katherine Dunnette (chaperone). (Helen Stephens Collection [C3552], The State Historical Society of Missouri, Manuscript Collection)
A Note on Sources
I must have read through hundreds of articles on Newspapers.com to help me flesh out this novel. This website allowed me to access stories from all over the country dating back to the 1920s and ’30s and read about everything from FDR’s political rallies in Chicago to the women competing in rolling pin throwing contests outside of Boston.
The oral histories at LA84.org should be read by anyone with an interest in Olympic history. I paid special attention to those by Evelyne Hall Adams, Maybelle Reichardt Hopkins, Simone Schaller Kirin, Jean Shiley Newhouse, Anne Vrana O’Brien, and Evelyn Furtsch Ojeda to help me build my imagined world of Olympians. The official Olympic reports of 1928, 1932, and 1936 offer photos, maps, engineering plans, and very detailed accounts of everything related to these Olympics.
I also read the following books and highly recommend all of these to better understand the women who inspired Fast Girls and the times in which they lived:
Berlin 1936: Sixteen Days in August, by Oliver Hilmes
Black American Women in Olympic Track and Field, by Michael D. Davis
Fire on the Track: Betty Robinson and the Triumph of the Early Olympic Women, by Roseanne Montillo
The First Lady of Olympic Track: The Life and Times of Betty Robinson, by Joe Gergen
The Forgotten Legacy of Stella Walsh: The Greatest Female Athlete of Her Time, by Sheldon Anderson
The Life of Helen Stephens: The Fulton Flash, by Sharon Kinney Hanson
Nazi Games: The Olympics of 1936, by David Clay Large
A Proper Spectacle: Women Olympians, 1900–1936, by Stephanie Daniels and Anita Tedder
Their Day in the Sun: Women of the 1932 Olympics, by Doris H. Pieroth
Yes, She Can! Women’s Sports Pioneers, by Glenn Stout
And last but certainly not least, there are several amazing documentaries on this subject, including Olympic Pride, American Prejudice. This film can be easily accessed through multiple video streaming sites and covers the contributions of African American athletes during the 1936 Olympics. I also recommend PBS’s The Nazi Games: Berlin 1936, and of course, Olympia, by Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl, serves as a haunting visual primary source on the Berlin Olympics.
Advance Praise for Fast Girls by Elise Hooper
“Fast Girls is a compelling, thrilling look at what it took to be a female Olympian in prewar America. Rich with historical detail and brilliant storytelling, the book follows three athletes on their path to compete—and win—in a man’s world. Brava to Elise Hooper for bringing these inspiring heroines to the wide audience they so richly deserve.”
—Tara Conklin, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Romantics and The House Girl
“Fast Girls is a high-speed, heart-pounding romp as ambitious as its trio of track-star heroines. Golden girl Betty, underestimated African American phenom Louise, and awkward farm-girl Helen make three very different heroines, but they are united by fast feet and big dreams. Their fight to compete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics in the face of sexism, racism, and the rising tide of fascism makes for poignant, inspirational reading. A gold medal read from Elise Hooper!”
—Kate Quinn, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
“In Fast Girls, a novel about three remarkable women and their journey to the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Elise Hooper seamlessly interweaves history and fiction, and the results are kinetic, mesmerizing, and terrifically entertaining. Her frank depiction of the obstacles faced by her heroines, all real-life champions, brings to stunning life three women whose stories have been long overlooked but whose courage and groundbreaking achievements have endured. This is a wonderful novel from an accomplished historian and ferociously talented writer, and it will surely appeal to anyone with an interest in the pioneering women who paved the rocky and uphill way for today’s female Olympians.”
—Jennifer Robson, author of The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding
“Fast Girls will hurl you down the track of American history and have you rooting for some of the toughest underdogs ever to aspire to Olympic gold. Three of the fastest girls in history finally get their day in the sun, and we get to bask in their glory. I couldn’t put this one down.”
—Kerri Maher, author of The Kennedy Debutante and The Girl in White Gloves
“Based on the real lives of three female Olympians in the 1920s and ’30s, Fast Girls is a moving novel of strength, courage, and ultimately perseverance. Expertly researched and deftly crafted, this novel is a fascinating portrait of what it took to survive and thrive as a female athlete at this moment in history. I was absolutely captivated by the lives, struggles, and triumphs of Betty, Helen, and Louise.”
—Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Letter and In Another Time
“An exhilarating journey that begins with the humble beginnings of promising female runners and culminates in their inspiring and obstacle-filled quests for Olympic glory. I fell in love with the characters and their stories of determination, hope,
